Nov. 10, 2009

Loyola Men's Volleyball 2010 Prospectus

CHICAGO - Sixteen home matches, seven matches against teams ranked nationally in the final 2009 Bison/AVCA Coaches' Poll and a tough road trip to California highlight the Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team's 2010 schedule, which was announced today by Loyola head coach Shane Davis. The Ramblers kick off the 2010 slate at Alumni Gym on Jan. 7 against the University of Windsor.

After a second match against Windsor on Jan. 8, Loyola hosts a scrimmage against the program's alumni on Jan. 9. LU then hosts Carthage on Jan. 13 and MIVA rival Ball State on Jan. 15 before traveling to face conference foe IPFW on Jan. 22.

The Ramblers return home on Jan. 26 to open a five-match homestand, taking on MSOE (Jan. 26), St. Francis (Jan. 29), Penn State (Jan. 30), NJIT (Feb. 12) and Ohio State (Feb. 13) at Alumni Gym. Loyola closes out the month of February on the road, traveling to Juniata on Feb. 19, George Mason on Feb. 20 and MIVA rival Lewis on Feb. 23.

A tough month of March opens with home matches against Quincy on March 5 and 6, followed by a daunting trip to California with matches against three top-10 teams. The Ramblers travel to Long Beach State on March 9, followed by UCLA on March 12 and Cal State Northridge on March 13.

Loyola returns to Alumni Gym on March 20 for its final homestand of the regular season, hosting Juniata (March 20), Lewis (March 23), George Mason (March 26) and IPFW (March 27). The Ramblers close out the regular season with four road matches against MIVA teams, taking on Grand Canyon twice (April 2, 3), Ohio State (April 9) and Ball State (April 17).

The MIVA Tournament opens with quarterfinal play on April 24, followed by the semifinals on April 28 and the finals on May 1.

Loyola enters its 2010 schedule with 17 returning letterwinners from its 2009 squad, including All-MIVA selections Kris Berzins and Mike Bunting. The Ramblers finished the 2009 season at 17-10 overall and 5-5 in the MIVA.